“You’re right,” I say. “It’s not your business. If I need to talk to my professor about my magic, I should be able to walk across campus and talk to him without being stalked and judged.”
“I’m not judging,” he says. “It makes sense for someone who has an absentee father to choose an older man. I don’t think less of you for it.”
My mouth literally falls open in shock and indignation. “What do you know about absent parents?” I demand. Before I can go off on him for being such an insufferable ass, I spin around and race up the stairs, praying the tears in my eyes don’t fall until I’m alone. I throw open the door of my room, dart inside, slam the door, and slide down the inside of it. I pull my knees up and cover my face with both hands. Fuck.
What the fuck is wrong with me? And how dare Thorn presume to know anything about my relationship with my father? Not to mention he’s way off base.
Isn’t he?
I mean, he definitely is. Professor Darius is the exact opposite of daddish. Just because he’s older doesn’t mean I have daddy issues.
Okay, I probably have daddy issues. But so what? Lots of people do, and it’s not like I’m seducing married men. And it’s not like Dad wants to be absentee. He just didn’t handle Mom’s death very well. Which reminds me of what I said to Thorn, and that I was a complete bitch. Considering he’s lost a father completely, I was way out of line.
Super. Now I have to eat crow. So not my favorite flavor.
I stand, take a deep breath, and open the door. Thorn is standing against the opposite wall in his usual pose. His thick, black hair looks slightly tousled, as if he’s been tugging at it, and his emerald gaze is troubled.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I was an asshole, and I know I’m not the only person who’s lost a parent. That was a completely insensitive, shitty thing to say, and I’m sorry if I hurt you. I hope you can forgive me.”
He crosses his arms, which draws my eyes to his yummy biceps. Which are off limits, I remind myself. And not at all what I should be focusing on right now. A stitch pulls between his brows, and he nods. “It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me.”
I stand there feeling like the world’s biggest tool. “Well, I’m still sorry,” I say at last. “I shouldn’t have said that. And you can pretend all you want, but I know you’re more sensitive than you let on.”
“Is that so?” Thorn asks, quirking one black eyebrow.
“Yep,” I say. “And don’t try to distract me with your sexy eyebrow trick.”
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “My what?”
“You know what,” I say. “And that crooked smile is not going to work on me, either.”
His mouth twitches like he’s trying not to laugh. “I didn’t know you found my asymmetrical facial tendencies so alluring.”
“I don’t,” I say, crossing my arms and trying to frown. “I’m not going to invite you in or anything.”
“Good,” he says. “Because I’m on guard duty, so I couldn’t come in if you did.”
“But you’d want to?” I ask, raising my brows.
He scowls. “No.”
“Liar.”
“Does it really matter?” His smile is gone, his face serious. Does it matter if he wants me or not? Am I just a greedy bitch, wanting him and Professor Darius, too? And maybe even Rocco. Not Ryker, though. Definitely not him. Never him. He’s such a dick.
Damn it. Now I’m thinking about his dick pressed up against my ass when he was kissing me.
“I’ve gotta go,” I say, ducking back into my room and slamming the door. What’s wrong with me? Ryker has been nothing but an impossible shithead since I met him. Sure, he’s hot, but he’s also infuriating and impossible to please and just plain hateful.
I shake the thoughts away and grab a toothbrush, attacking my teeth like I can rub him out of my mind, forget the pull I have to him, and his brother, and Thorn, and fuck, my professor.
At least I know one of those doors has closed, and it can never open again. I would never risk Professor Darius’s job, even if it means I can never have him. At least with that one, there’s closure, and I can move on without thinking about him again.
Like that’s going to happen.
Chapter Three
“We’re getting our schedules today,” Asher says as we head for the Great Hall. “Maybe you’ll get a class with me.”
“Let’s hope it’s something I’m actually good at, so I can finally kick your ass at something,” I say, giving him a playful push.
“Girl, don’t you dare,” he says. “You already have the best magic, and the best guys, and a pretty badass weapon, silly as it looks.”
“Cleo is pretty badass, isn’t she?” I ask, holding aloft my spork and smiling fondly at her.
“You got the best of Ryker during finals, so yeah, I’d say so,” Asher says, lowering his voice so my angry guard can’t hear. He strides ahead, his long legs carrying him further from us with each step, so we have to rush to keep up. Asher doesn’t seem to mind, as he openly checks out Ryker’s ass. “Now, how you’re not boning that hunk of meat is beyond me.”
A tremor runs through me when I remember Ryker’s words. He offered, more than once, but with the warning that he’d ruin me. The truth is, I’m a little scared of him, attractive as my body finds him. But I will not be ruled by my body or my magic. Ryker is an asshole—a scary asshole—and I’m not going there.
“I don’t need that kind of complication in my life,” I say, thinking of Thorn’s warning to me earlier. Why are all these sorcerers warning me away from them?
“Girl, everybody needs love,” Asher says. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not ashamed,” I say, darting a look at Ryker, who stands at the door of the Great Hall, holding it open for us and tapping his foot impatiently as we approach. “And I have my dad.”
Asher rolls his eyes and steps into the Great Hall. “Not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Yeah, well, it’s bad enough that everyone thinks of me as the sex girl,” I mutter. “This semester, I’d like be known for something that has absolutely nothing to do with sex. Which means I need to kick ass at something.”
“Noble goal,” Asher says. “But you’re going to have to ride the high, hard one eventually.”
“The high, hard one?” I ask, laughing. “That’s what you call it?”
“I could call it a cock, but I thought your head might explode.”
“High, hard one it is,” I say, making my way toward the center of the huge room where the students are all sitting on folding chairs waiting to get their schedules. Just as I sit down, my phone goes off in my pocket. I dig it out, ignoring the snorts of derision from the Bellas and their crew when they hear my boring ring tone and see the chunky, old-fashioned phone I inherited from Mom a few years ago when she died. I don’t care if it was old even then, or if it has to be charged three times a day. It’s a reminder of my mom.
Speaking of, I see my dad’s grainy picture on the cracked screen. “I have to take this,” I say to Asher. “I’ll be right back.”
I hurry outside, ignoring Ryker who trails along looking bored. Stepping out of the building, I squint against the bright morning sunlight and turn my back toward the entrance to have a bit of privacy.
“Hey, Dad,” I say into the phone. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, fine,” he says, sounding a bit odd but no more than usual.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “You called?”
“Oh, yes,” he says. “I just wanted you to know that I’ve taken a job.”
“Oh, wow,” I say, clutching the phone to my ear. “That’s great, Dad.”
Suddenly, a lump rises in my throat. Dad hasn’t had a job, a real one, since Mom died. Even before that, he was iffy. Since my sister was killed, he hasn’t been the same, but it was Mom’s death that really broke him.
“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I guess so. A father should look out for his kids, and you’
re all I’ve got left, so I thought I should make sure you didn’t have to go back to Silas’s. You won’t have to worry about him anymore, Jade.”
“Wait, what?” I ask, my heart suddenly hammering. “What did you do, Dad?”
“I took over your contract.”
“What the—Dad, no. You can’t do that.” My head is swimming, panic racing through me.
“It’s okay,” he says. “You weren’t doing anything magical. I can do what you did. It’s just janitorial work.”
“Silas is evil,” I blurt out. “Don’t go anywhere near him. He’ll trick you into something.”
“Don’t get worked up,” he says. “It’s only for the duration of your schooling. It’s about time I did something for you, and I’d like to take a few years off your sentence. He’s agreed that he won’t add time to your sentence for the years you’re in school if I take up for your missing hours.”
“Dad, no,” I say. “You can’t!” I’m desperate and close to tears. Dad has barely left the house in two years, and even before that, he was locked inside his own head most of the time. He changed when my sister Autumn died. And even when he was at his best before that, he was never involved in the magical community. Psychics were treated about the same by the magical community as the human one, so Mom didn’t spend a lot of time with other magical people.
We grew up basically human in a human world, and even when her magic led us down this path, she kept us out of it as long as she could. And yeah, the last two years of working for Silas have been a crash-course in supernatural people for me, but Dad has no idea what he’s dealing with. I don’t want him to learn the hard way like I did. And if Silas is bargaining, you can bet your ass he’s got some slimy ulterior motive up his sleeve.
“It’s okay, Jade,” Dad says. “I want to do this for you.”
My heart breaks a little for him. He just wants to do the right thing, to take care of me. But I don’t need him to do that. Over the past two years, I’ve gotten pretty fucking good at taking care of both of us. Even if he’s trying to make up for that now, I don’t want him to get involved with the likes of Silas.
“I’m coming home,” I blurt out. “I’ll quit the Academy. They’ll just have to siphon my magic, and I’ll be fine. I’ll get my job back.”
“You can’t quit school,” Dad says. “It’s the best opportunity anyone in our family will ever get.”
“Then I’ll take night classes or something,” I say. “If they suck out my magic every day, I won’t be any danger to anyone.”
“Don’t get so worked up,” he says. “I know you’re upset, but it’ll be best for us both in the long run. You’ll get to finish your schooling without worrying about Silas, and I’ll get out of the house for a few hours every day. It’ll be good for me.”
“I’m coming home right now,” I say. “Don’t leave before I get there.”
I hang up and turn to see Ryker standing behind me, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “Not happening, Cupcake,” he says flatly.
“What?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“You’re not going home,” he says. “You’re not just a random, ungifted witch. You can’t leave whenever you want.”
“So, take my magic,” I say. “I never asked for it. I don’t want it, anyway.”
Something inside me rebels at my own lie, but I ignore it and stride over to Ryker.
“You saw what happened when three girls stole a little of your magic,” he says evenly. “Do you want ten people to split your power between them and see what happens? If your magic was siphoned, even more people would be affected.”
I hesitate, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat. “Okay,” I say. “But I have to stop my dad from doing something that’s going to get him killed.”
“He’s a grown man,” Ryker says, stepping into my path when I try push past him. “Maybe he needs to figure out that there are consequences to his actions.”
“You don’t know anything about my father,” I snap. “He’s been through trauma. Not that you’d understand.”
“Oh really,” Ryker says drily. “Because I’m sure no one else in the world has experienced trauma and kept their shit together.”
“Yeah, well, he did the best he could,” I say. “At least he didn’t turn into a cold, sadistic asshole who likes to torture girls for fun.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Ryker snaps.
I cross my arms and tap my toe, staring up at him. “I don’t hear you denying it.”
“I’ll apologize if you can honestly tell me you’re not better for it.”
I can’t, and I won’t even try. So I change the subject.
“I don’t expect you to understand, or, you know, suddenly develop basic human decency,” I say. “But I love my dad, and if you’re going to talk shit about him, I’m going to get pissed. My dad may not be perfect, but he’s ten times the man you’ll ever be.”
“Yeah? Then how come he let you work for that lowlife scumbag wizard for the past two years, and I’m saying you can’t go back to work for him for even an hour?”
I plant my hand on my hip and throw my blonde hair back over my shoulder. “You know what? If you were capable of empathy, I might try to explain it, but you’re clearly not, so I won’t bother. Now, I’m going to see my dad before he gets himself killed. And you’re not going to stop me.”
I stride past Ryker, snatching Cleo from my belt as I go. Let anyone come at me. I’ve got plenty of magic to stop any asshole who attacks me when I’m off campus.
“Are you fucking stupid?” Ryker asks, grabbing my arm and spinning me to face him.
“Look, I don’t have time for this,” I say, yanking to free myself. “Let me go. I have to talk to him before he signs his life away.”
“It’s his life,” Ryker growls. “Let him do what he wants.”
“He doesn’t want to,” I argue. “He’s doing it for me. Don’t you see that? If something happens, and I don’t stop him—”
My breath catches, cutting off my words, and I realize with horror I’m about to cry. The thought of losing my father is too much. Just as I’m all he has left in this world, he’s all I’ve got, too.
“Then you’ll have respected his last wishes,” Ryker growled. “To let him protect you like he should have done all along.”
“You’re incorrigible,” I growl, swinging Cleo at him.
My hand freezes in midair, and Ryker quirks an eyebrow and smirks. “Do you really think you can take me by surprise, Cupcake?”
“Why the fuck are you calling me that?”
“Because you’re soft as a cupcake,” he says, still smirking. “Now, if you’re ready to stop acting like a child, I’ll unfreeze your hand, and we can discuss this like adults.”
“I fucking hate you,” I growl, yanking at my hand.
“I’ve got time,” Ryker says, leaning against the wall and crossing his feet. He takes out his phone and scrolls through it while I seethe and curse and yank at my hand, which is trapped in midair as if frozen inside an invisible block of ice. At last, I tire myself out, blow my hair out of my eyes, and glare at Ryker.
“Fine, you win this one,” I say. “But if something bad happens to my father because of this, I will end your life.”
Ryker shrugs. “Fair enough. Now, if you don’t want to be locked in your room like a kid in timeout, you need to march your ass back in there and get your schedule. You can ask for a leave to go home, with appropriate accommodations, just like everyone else has to do.”
“I hate you, Ryker Steele.”
“I’m crying on the inside,” he says, rolling his eyes and turning away. My hand comes free suddenly, dropping to my side. I stomp back into the Great Hall behind Ryker. I’m tempted to spork him in the back of the neck, but I have a feeling he’d somehow see me even when I’m behind him, and the consequences would not be good.
Still, a girl can daydream.
*
As soon as we get our schedules, I
rush to Darius’s classroom. When I step inside, I see Blonde Bella sitting on the front of one of the desks, gazing up at Darius with rapt attention that makes me throw up in my mouth a little. Her adoration is sickeningly clear. I remind myself I’m there for Dad, though, pushing away my jealousy and refusing to think about what happened on Professor Darius’s desk when I was in here alone with him.
“I need to talk to you,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at Ryker. He looks beyond done with guard duty, but I don’t let that deter me, either. I don’t care if I irritate him. I just want my father to be safe.
“Jade,” Darius says, rising from where he’s leaning against the edge of his desk. “Come in. Miss Goodwin, I think we’re done here. I’ll see you in class later.”
Bella smiles sweetly at Darius as she slides off the desk, revealing a whole lot of her tan legs as she goes. She pretends to lose her balance, so he’ll have to reach out and steady her, but I don’t even despise her for her transparent antics. It must suck to be that desperate.
When she breezes past me, she shoots me a smug smile, but for once she doesn’t try to cut me down or call me names. So I guess there’s a slight improvement in her attitude since I kept her from begin expelled from the Academy of Sorcery.
“What’s wrong?” Darius asks, his chocolate eyes full of concern as he studies me.
I turn, taking great pleasure in closing the door in Ryker’s face before turning back to Darius.
“It’s my dad,” I say, my throat tightening. “He says he’s going to take over my contract while I’m in school, so Silas doesn’t add more years onto the end for the time I spend here.”
Darius rubs his hand over the bottom half of his face, looking thoughtful. “You don’t like that idea?”
“No,” I say with an incredulous laugh. “It’s a terrible idea! Silas will use him for… For…”
I can’t really think of what Silas will use an unwell human for, but it can’t be anything good.
“I understand your concern,” Darius says. “I’ll send someone to speak to them about the situation.”
Academy of Sorcery: Term 2: Fallen Master Page 2